I read a magazine article recently about a Taurus .380 alloy framed 1.7" barrel revo, weighing in right at one pound. Kinda tempting. Looks like they made these a few years ago with a 2-finger grip but the new (?) version has a 2.5 finger grip. Did they actually make a new gun or just put a new rubber grip on it? I fondled a Taurus .38 Special yesterday in a shop that has what I guess is the same grip/frame. It felt good with my skinny fingers. Dry-firing showed the trigger was acceptable. Not expecting it to be as good as an old K-frame Smith, of course!
In .38 Spl, the Taurus revolver is virtually the same size as my Bersa .380 CC except that the rear of the slide on the Bersa protrudes into the area behind the spurless DAO hammer of the revolver. The .380 revo has a shorter cylinder and frame than the .38 Spl so it would be smaller overall than the Bersa. Of course, with a longer barrel and no cylinder gap, the Bersa would have more velocity as well as twice as many rounds.
Stuffed with WWB flat-nosed 95 grain rounds (I doubt HPs would expand reliably), or something from Buffalo Bore if you're ambitious, this seems like a real contender for coat-pocket carry vs. anything equally small (quite a bit more oomph than .32 or .22, although a 9-round Ruger .22 LCP does invoke the rule that "quantity has a quality all its own"), with some chance of firing multiple rounds without needing to actually draw from the pocket. Comes in a matte black finish, too, for stealth.
The .380 uses moon clips ("stellar clips" in Taurus-speak) but has a shoulder in the cylinder so cases should head-space reliably on the case mouth. Could be good for a reload from a speed-strip if you want to plan that far ahead.
In addition to the reduced overall length, this appeals to me because I've been naughty and have reloaded (and probably will again) .38 Special brass beyond the +P range, with careful (IMHO, and by "humble" I mean arrogant) extrapolation into data for .357 Mag, adjusted for the reduced case volume of .38 Special brass. This discourages me from getting any .38 Special guns, due to concern about losing track of any of those rounds, shattering a .38 cylinder and possibly some of my digits or eyes.
Taurus .380 revolver
1IMR4227: Zero to 900 in 0.001 seconds
I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.
I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.